Management and Office Assistant

As a Management and Office Assistant, you are the indispensable linchpin within the Plant Developmental Biology cluster. You ensure that everything runs smoothly: from HR processes (such as appointing new staff) and financial administration (monitoring budgets, checking expense claims) to supporting education and research (student enrolment, coordinating documentation across various systems, registering publications, etc.) and internal project planning. Thanks to your keen eye, proactive attitude and strong organisational skills, our team continues to operate efficiently, and staff, students and guests can rely on you.

You support managers, staff and projects both administratively and substantively, enabling them to carry out their work efficiently and effectively. You contribute to professional, accessible and reliable support of day-to-day operations. You are the first point of contact for colleagues, visiting staff, students and external partners. With your service-oriented approach, you maintain oversight of project milestones, connect processes and identify opportunities for improvement.

Your duties and responsibilities as a Management and Office Assistant fall into several categories:

• Information & communication
• Hospitality services
• Administration
• Procedures & systems organisation
• Project management and coordination

In your role, you work closely with various support staff functions, such as HR, Finance, IT and Education, ensuring that processes align well and that everyone can work efficiently.

Where you will work
You will work within a dynamic cluster (Plant Developmental Biology) consisting of two chair groups: Molecular Biology and Cell and Developmental Biology, located on the WUR campus. The Plant Developmental Biology cluster investigates plant growth, development and adaptability at the molecular and cellular level. As a result, the cluster is supported by extensive laboratory facilities, where students are also trained. In addition, the cluster offers a diverse teaching portfolio across various WUR degree programmes.

The cluster comprises a highly diverse group of employees, ranging from PhD candidates to professors, with a wide variety of nationalities and cultural backgrounds. This is complemented by an equally diverse, continuously changing group of students. The group forms a strong social community, to which you can further contribute.

You bring the following competencies and skills:

• Strong planning, structuring and prioritisation skills.
• Ability to maintain overview in a dynamic environment with many parallel processes.
• Clear and professional communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to interact effectively with staff, students and external partners.
• Approachable, proactive and focused on relieving colleagues and guests.
• Proficient in working with administrative systems.

You also have the following qualifications and experience:

• At least an MBO-level qualification;
• Professional proficiency in English, both spoken and written;
• Knowledge of MS Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and PowerPoint;
• Experience in organising, preparing and coordinating activities, events or projects;
• Work experience in a similar role is an advantage.

In our international working environment, English is increasingly used as the main language of communication. For this position, a C1 level of English is required. If you do not yet meet this level, we will of course support you, and you can make use of our language centre, Wageningen in’to Language.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between €3.057,- and €3.985,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 7). This position is for 24 - 38 hours. As for your contract, we initially offer a one-year contract that can be extended - if possible within (company) organizational circumstances - on good performance. Of course, we are happy to have a conversation with you if you have any questions about this.

Wageningen University & Research offers plenty of opportunities for growth and development, with a strong internal recruitment policy and excellent training programmes.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. For 20 consecutive years, we have been voted the "best university" in the Netherlands! A place to be proud of.

WUR welcomes applications from international candidates. However, for applicants for this specific position from outside the EU/EFTA zone, immigration restrictions may apply based on Dutch and EU immigration laws. Such candidates may be eligible for an “orientation year” in the Netherlands or a visa as a “knowledge migrant”.

The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below to get an idea of our green campus!

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.